Wings To Glide On Slipstreams
by Princess Sky Windiox
Summary: In which Ella gets turned into a mutant. Chaos ensures.
1. Chapter 1: Taken

If you asked Ella Martinez what she would like to change about herself, she would answer nothing. Everything about me is awesome, and it's just the way I want it to be, she would say. People looked up to her for her high spirits in every situation and optimism, something that could be rivaled by Nudge on most occasions, and she was also known to look up to the Flock, Maximum Ride especially, who was her older sister. Nudge and Max were her best friends from the Flock. And they'd visit more often then not.

Ella to be with them all the time, wanted them around all the time.

Unfortunately if she asked the Flock, Maximum included, they'd immediately reject the idea of a road trip, even if they got to fly along the way. That's just the way the Flock was: touchy about tight spaces. They had, however, opened up and told Ella and Dr. Martinez about their horrific past. And Dr. Martinez had insisted on giving them a closed-doors checkup. Everything was good, and the vet suggested that the Flock take daily flights and train in flying (Fang had told her about the hawks turning their feathers), including co-op flying and singular flying.

This was why Ella was on the roof of her house, wishing more then ever that she was a mutant, a grey-tailed hawk to be exact. She could imagine it now: soaring in the sky with her fellow flock members, sleeping up in trees and flying all over the country…

Ella could imagine it now. She smiled wanly to herself; that dream was never gonna happen.

Sighing to herself, Ella stood up and started to walk down on the roof, holding her arms up. In response, Max swooped upwards, did a pirouette in midair, and started flying towards her half-sister, holding her hands downwards. Max caught Ella and she was swept off her feet. It was a routine they had practiced day after day, and they still haven't gotten the last part perfect; it was in case Ella got caught in the crosshairs of a battle by accident and she needed to get out of there, fast.

"Alright, sis." Ella loved when Max called her that. "Ready for phase 2 of this?"

"Maybe," Ella said. It was lucky she was good at gymnastics… no… she really wasn't. Max was better at everything up high. But Max and Fang had taught her to use her momentum to swing around. The full trick was that one of the Flock would swing whomever was up into battle into the air by their hands, and then swing them up onto their backs. The first time Max had attempted this with Ella, the girl had swung right over her entire body, stumbled backwards, fell on her back, and fell to the ground, having to crawl over to a bush to throw up.

Ever since that day Maximum had not wanted to do that again, but Ella had somehow convinced her, albeit reluctantly.

The mutant chuckled. "Neither am I. Tell me when you're ready."

Two seconds later, Ella said, "Now."

Max swung her little sister upward and over. The final destination was on Max's wings, and the mutant knew how to angle her secondary feathers- Fang and Nudge had taught her- so that she could make a quick escape away from the battle. Max held onto Ella's hands until the girl reached her head, and let go. It was all up to Ella now.

Ella twisted in midair, like an ice skater, and landed on one foot in the middle of Max's back. She waved her arms madly like they were wings, balanced on one foot. That foot was currently in the position a ballerina would take when they were balanced on a stage. _Fall to your knees, Ella, it'll save you, _a mysterious Voice said inside her head, and Ella obeyed, falling to her knees on her sister's back.

"Are you okay, sis?" Max's alarmed shout brought Ella back to the present. She shook her long black hair out of her eyes and looked at Max's head, which was turned slightly.

Ella nodded. "Yeah, I'm good!" Ella shouted back. She lowered herself gingerly until her arms were around Max's neck and her legs around her sister's waist. They had established it when first trying it out; Max could still fly.

_Max, _said the Voice, _Ella's about to go through a difficult time. I'm in her head as well._

"Voice," Max said aloud, "what are you doing in my sister's head?"

The Voice didn't answer. Max and Ella looked at each other as Max landed, and Ella got off her back with some difficulty. "Voice!" Max shouted, and the rest of the Flock, from down below, looked downwards in puzzlement.

"Did I just hear something?" Gazzy asked, nipping Nudge's rant in the bud.

_I'm in her head because she needs the guidance… and so do you._

* * *

><p>Later that night, Ella lain in bed, bored out of her mind, facing the far wall. She couldn't fall asleep, the events of today rippling in her head. The nearly failed trick, the Voice, and her nearly failed landing.<p>

She turned over towards the nearest wall and thought about herself and Max. She was nothing special, only human. Now she had a Voice in her head. And Max… Max was a mutant. She was a leader. She had an entire team of mutants by her side, and she loved her and her mother.

_She loves me and my mother… that's the most valuable thing anyone could ask for, _Ella thought with a sigh. She smiled.

_Family is forever,_ the Voice chimed in.

Ella relaxed, her hair splayed out on her pillow. But then her body went rigid again as she heard smooth, angelic voices. She squeezed her lips together so tightly all the blood drained out of them, and forced her legs to relax: her muscles were going to cramp if she held them any more tense.

_Voice, what happened to Max and the others? Shouldn't Angel have woken up by now? _Ella asked the Voice.

_They've been gassed, and so has your mother. You'll have to survive this on your own. I'll tell you when to run,_ the Voice answered back, and Ella nodded. She forced her breathing to become deep and steady and for her body to relax. But her senses were still on full alert. Eventually she heard the Erasers walking up the stairs, and kept on chanting in her head _Run when it's time run when it's time run when it's time. _The Erasers eventually reached her door, and a lead Eraser opened it.

Ella kept her ears perked; she had no one to help her now, no one but her.

She heard the Eraser chuckle and heard his heavy boots on the floor as he approached, threw off the covers, and scooped her up in his arms, holding her bridal style. He shifted one arm to touch his right ear, and said, "Tell the Director I've got the merchandise." In the moonlight filtering through Ella's bedroom window, she could make out that he had a sadistic smirk on his face, and he had a scar that stretched from the beginning of his eyebrow to the end of his eye.

Ella waited until he started down the stairs. _Now! _She and the Voice screamed in unison.

It was all Ella needed for the adrenaline to start flowing. She snapped her eyes open and tucked her legs and her upper body upwards; she fell through Ari's outstretched arms and landed on her tailbone. The Eraser snarled and swiped at her, but Ella used her smaller size to her advantage, ducking around him and wall jumping. It was another thing she used to her advantage, and Max and her mother had stressed this: Use your smaller size to your advantage and go on the defense. She wall jumped and then landed on the banister, sliding down on it and then grinding on it to increase her speed.

Ella landed in the kitchen and saw a jug of water her mother had kept out. Ella raced over, popped the cap, and threw the jug on the floor, right in Ari's path, slicking the floor with water. Then she got her socks a bit wet herself to block the scent and took off running.

Seconds later she heard Ari slip and fall on the water, or the cap, or _something._ She was almost to the front door- she could make it-

Ella burst out the front door and skid to a halt. There was a wall of 6 Erasers…

She was trapped.

Suddenly a paw knocked into the side of her head, and she hit the sidewalk so hard she saw stars, and blacked out.

* * *

><p>Ella struggled to surface to consciousness, trying to register where she was just by the smell and sounds of the place. <em>Don't open your eyes yet,<em> The Voice advised her. _Use your other senses. Can you move everything? What about focused hearing?_

_Someone's coming from the northeast, _Ella responded. She blinked into white lights, hospital lights, prison lights. She moved her eyes without moving her head, and tried to process what she could find out without moving at all.

She was wearing a hospital gown. Luckily she was wearing underwear. She was strapped down. Not good.

A man walked in. Ella turned her head, and recognized him immediately.

"Ari," she whispered. The Eraser smirked, and two other people entered. Both whitecoats.

"You're saying this is Subject 33?" The female asked, looking at Ella with doubt. Ari grinned. "This little girl?"

"Yes, you're looking at it." The other whitecoat, a man, raised a syringe. It was filled with blood.

He injected it into her chest, straight into her heart. Ella screamed.

"This was your dream," Ari said, smirking, "and now you're living it."

_He's been watching you,_ the Voice said.

The torture had only just begun.


	2. Chapter 2: Turned

"Get up!" The whitecoat screamed. Ella's senses were hazy; everything was distant and far away. _Ella, _the Voice said, and the girl clung on to that one shard of being awake as everything narrowed down to a fuzzy little gray expanse.

This was exactly how she felt when she had passed out the last time. The world going gray, then black. _Voice,_ Ella answered mentally, _good to see you again._

_You'll have to follow my directions, _the Voice said, _ready?_

_Yes, _Ella answered, feeling as if she was about to hurl.

Ella was thrown roughly into a dog crate. The door slammed behind her, locking her inside. The girl winced and sat up. All day the whitecoats had injected things into her, taken her blood, injected genes into her… she was no longer human.

A second later her cage was thrown onto a cart. Ella winced as her head hit the cart, and tasted salty blood in her mouth as the word darkened more. She looked around as she was wheeled down the hall. In one glass room, a boy with fish gills, scales, and fins was swimming around in a makeshift fish tank. In another, a girl with black scaly skin and 8 arms was running on a treadmill, hooked up to an IV. They eventually reached the room where all the mutants were kept in cages, and Ari swung her down, her cage hitting the floor. She tasted more blood in her mouth and her vision started to get dots of black, and she heard the card being wheeled away.

_Ella was an experiment. _And all for one reason.

She wasn't human, not anymore.

Not human. Mutant. Animal blood, along with human blood, pulsed through her veins.

Ella breathed deeply in and out. She was feeling differently in her back. Felt strange.

Leaning against the floor of the cage like a dog would lean against the floor, Ella looked around. She was at the end of the aisle, the door on her right. There wasn't enough light for a regular human to see, but then again, she had gotten captured by the whitecoats for one reason and one reason only: They wanted to see what effect animal genes would have on a kid who was born human. Max and the others had had bird genes in them since they were born.

But she was the whitecoats' new plaything. Which added up to one thing only: _Ella was an experiment. _She was an experiment and she wasn't getting out of this horrible place anytime soon.

The pain in her back, centered around the upper and middle half of her back, two lines parallel with each other and going from north to south. They were on opposite sides of her spine.

_New new human wings girl cage_

Ella blinked and looked around. _Voice, was that you?_ Ella asked mentally.

_No, that wasn't me._

_New new eyes girl human cage wolf, _another unfamiliar voice thought, and Ella jerked as another wave of pain washed through her head and her back.

_Ella, Ella, _said the Voice_, I've just figured it out. You can read minds._

Ella blinked. And then she screamed as another wave of pain washed through her, this one enough to knock her out.

* * *

><p><em>Two Weeks Later<em>

Like Sleeping Beauty, Maximum Ride slowly and steadily woke up. She blinked and looked around, her wavy/curly blond hair moving with her. She checked her phone and her eyes bugged out.

It was 9:00 on a Saturday. Of the _NEXT MONTH!_

Maximum jumped up and skidded to a halt just outside her bedroom, running in place. Where, where, where? She ran to Ella's room on instinct, pushing open the door.

Ella was gone. Max's wings spread out. Something had happened. Two weeks… two weeks.

And suddenly she knew where she needed to go, because her instinct was leading her in the right direction. It was simple. She had to go to the School.

Max marched back out into the hallway, headed for her room. Two minutes later she came back out, wearing her brown belly track jacket, a white t-shirt, a brown t-shirt under that, faded blue denim jeans, and her signature light brown combat boots.

She walked into Iggy's room, to see the boy dressed in a simple long sleeved light blue t-shirt that complemented his sightless eyes, a silver unzipped track jacket, faded blue skinny jeans like Max's, and black and white checkered Toms. His eyebrows were creased together worriedly, as his sightless blue eyes locked onto the general position that Max was in. His lanky fingers reached out and gently touched her thigh as Max walked closer.

"Iggy, I got bad news," Max said. "Ella got taken by the School."

Iggy turned rigid. "No," he whispered, "not Ella."

"Iggy," Max said, "I'm not just gonna let them _take_ her. We're gonna get Ella back, you'll see. All of us, the Flock. And she'll become a part of our Flock. Our family."

They walked out of the room, going to Fang's room next. Max opened the door. Fang was wearing a black track jacket with black skinny jeans and black dress shoes. He looked at Max and understood, and the three walked to Gazzy's room.

Nudge and Angel were there as well. Nudge was wearing a white track jacket, a white v-neck t-shirt, black althletic shorts with stripes of white on the side, long white althletic socks that reached below her knees, and all white trainers. Gazzy was wearing a toxic green track jacket, a white t-shirt, denim baggy blue jeans, and hi top sneakers. Angel was wearing a pink off-the-shoulder t-shirt, a white tank top underneath it, a pink track jacket, white skinny jeans, and white leather boots that went up to her knees.

"Let's go," Max said. The 6 walked out of the room, Max peeking in and saw her mother asleep on the bed. "Fang, grab our gear," Max ordered, and Fang nodded, his black hair going down to his midback, ending where his wings ended. Fang grabbed the gear, swinging it up onto his back, and walked to the door with the rest of the Flock.

They all ran in unison and took off, headed towards the School, headed north-northwest, the moon and the stars and the planets glittering above them.

* * *

><p>Ella slowly awoke, blinking as her sight adjusted. She saw she could see much better, like an animal, and her night vision… she had night vision. She felt two appendages on her back, and reached around to feel them. They were feathered wings. Ella pulled her hand away. Blood and a single feather- her wings were 12 feet across and grey, with thin bands of white towards the edges and black tips- was in her hand.<p>

Ella was a mutant.

* * *

><p>The Flock flew in the direction of Lake Mead. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel were gliding along, the 6 of them in a loose formation resembling a flock of hawks. "So," Max said, turning her head slightly towards her Flock, "in case we get separated… everyone clear on Plan B?"<p>

"Yeah!" "Got it!" the Flock answered.

_I just hope this doesn't go south, _Max thought.


	3. Chapter 3: Tested

Ella stayed curled up on the floor of her cage, her hair matted and tangled, with little burs here and there. She shivered, goosebumps on her arms and legs, curled up in the fetal position. Her eyes focused on the criss-crossed lab window; it was nighttime, and she could clearly see the stars and the moon.

"Psst. Are you awake?"

Ella nodded and sat up slowly, turning to face the occupant of the cage next to her. Inside she saw a girl the same age as her and Nudge. She has wavy, long red hair and turquoise eyes, as well as fair skin. Her wings were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Her wings were thirteen feet across, 3 feet tall. She was 5'3, and dressed in a turquoise hospital gown.

"Hi," The girl whispered, and her turquoise eyes seemed to shimmer. "I'm Rainbow, 'cause of my wings."

"Ella," Ella said, "and they just brought me here. My sister and her Flock… they're gonna rescue me, and hopefully everyone else from this place," she added. "What are you merged with?"

"A parrot," Rainbow responded, "And what about you?"

Ella shrugged. _A crow, you were merged with a crow, _The Voice said.

"A crow," Ella answered, and Rainbow nodded.

"You'll be able to fly far and fast, like a hawk. Your wings are, like, 13 feet across and 2 feet tall," Rainbow informed her. Both she and Ella straightened as they heard footsteps, and both scuttled to the back of their crates, their bodies shaking with fear.

A whitecoat entered the room with a cart. He swung up Rainbow's cage and the girl winced. Then he grabbed Ella's cage- Ella wrapped her wings tighter around herself, she had the DNA of a human and a grey hawk- and swung it up on the crate next to Rainbow's.

Ella gulped. This was not gonna be good.

* * *

><p>Ella knew she couldn't go on like this much longer.<p>

She and Rainbow had been set up against each other, made to set up on treadmills. Her lungs had started burning an hour ago, and her legs had cramped and spasmed repeatedly whenever a whitecoat -Reilly- zapped her with a Taser set on low.

_Where'd they get a Tase- ah! _Ella picked up on Rainbow's panicked thoughts as she tripped and continued running, her rainbow feathers matted and dirty. Ella glanced over at her and continued running on the treadmill, her wings behind her.

_Just let it trip up… let one of the experiments trip up, just so I can shock it again… _Ella picked up on Reilly's sadistic thoughts, the pleasure he took in gaining knowledge from the experiments- including her- and how he wanted to see them suffer.

She trailed behind, getting lower on the treadmill belt, and Reilly zapped her again. This was it… she couldn't go on. Ella felt her feet tangle in the treadmill belt, felt herself sort of falling. He zapped her again. It was distant and everything went black.

_Ella!_ Ella picked up on Rainbow's desperate thought- the girl already considered her a friend.

What seemed like seconds later she was pulled back by a searing pain and ripping sounds. Ella blinked into bright lights. Hospital lights, prison lights. The whitecoats were ripping off the electrodes taped to her forehead and her chest, with a steady _rip, rip, rip._

_Stay strong, Ella, _the Voice said. _Stay with and lean on Rainbow, and the Flock should they come to get you. _

_Should they come to get me? _Ella asked. The Voice didn't answer.

"Oh, my God, 5 hours," Reilly said, "we got the experiments at 11:36 am and it's now 4:47… its heart rate only increased by seventeen percent. At the end, in the last 12 minutes its peak oxygen levels broke. And that other one is still going."

Ella picked up on their pleasure, their cruel nature. They liked the way she wasn't normal. To the whitecoats, she was a piece of science equipment, an _it._

Ella concentrated. Her mind reading wasn't that good, but she had to try. She let her mind wander the School, mentally learning her way around before she found Rainbow. She was okay.

Ella allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness. The last distinguishable thought she had was _I must escape with Rainbow._

_It looks like you and I are on the same page, _the Voice said, before Ella slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>The Flock reached Lake Mead, and landed in the cave they were staying in when they had rescued Angel from the School the first time. They landed and the blond 4'2 seven year old adjusted her pink t-shirt and shook out her wings, shaking out her wings and unzipping her track jacket. Nudge was worried, pacing around. It was 4:55 in the morning.<p>

"Fang," Max said, "leave the supplies here. You have 2 extra sleeping bags in case we lose some, right?"

Fang nodded. The last time they had come to Lake Mead, having recently escaped from the School, an animal had stolen their sleeping bags. The silent boy set set the sleeping bags down, along with the rest of the supplies. Max checked her watch. It was 5 am.

"Okay, guys," she said, looking at the others. Her wings were tucked in and her insides were churning. But Max was the leader, and she had to do everything, "change of plans. Instead of going straight there, we're gonna sleep until 8. Then we're gonna go up to Colorado, where we went to that diner before, and then rest for 20 minutes until we go to the School."

They all nodded. Since it was warm, the Flock simply lain out their sleeping backs and lain on them, and closed their eyes, falling asleep.

At 5:55, the Flock woke up, and took in water. Then Nudge bent the sheet metal she had brought with her over their supplies and the Flock headed to the diner they had been last time, flying northeast. Once they had finished eating, they flew west, towards the School.

It was time to get Ella back.


	4. Chapter 4: Rescue

The Flock flew westward in a loose V formation, with Max at the front and Angel bringing up the rear. They were headed westward, towards the School, coming from Colorado. "Angel, how far are we from the School?" Iggy asked.

"I have no idea," the telepath said. She wore a worried expression on her face.

"I've been keeping track," Nudge said, swooping up by Iggy by flying underneath Max partially and underneath Iggy so she was flying next to him, and their wings stroked with every downstroke. "We've gone 190 miles total so far, and we have 569 miles left. So that means we've got 2 hours and 20 minutes, and about 15 seconds now." Nudge had also gained the power to solve math equations in her head instantly. Her powers, hacking into any computer, feel any old emotions near technology, hacking into any computer, and bending metal, as well as attracting it. (She turned her magnet ability, as the Flock called it, into metalkinesis, the ability to bend metal. Now Nudge always had some metal on her.)

Iggy smiled, "Your math powers are handy, Nudge," he said.

"That's good." She said, smiling. Her supercurly hair was in a ponytail, but it was quickly being undone by the wind. Iggy's strawberry blond bangs were blowing into his face, and so was Fang's jet black hair.

"How far are we now?" Gazzy asked about 2 hours and 15 minutes later. The flight had been mostly silent, save for the flapping of their wings.

"We've only got 2 miles left. Flying would take us 5 more minutes, walking would take us 20, and running would take us 10 minutes." Nudge said.

Max thought about it for a minute. This was what made her such a great leader; she could come up with plans in less then a minute, especially battle plans. "We'll fly for 3 more minutes, then land and walk south-southwest-west towards the School until we're in the back. In case anything happens, U & A, then wait for an hour. Agreed?"

"Agreed!" The Flock chorused, and Max smiled as she looked forward.

_Don't worry, Ella. We're gonna find you._

The Flock landed near the School 3 minutes later and trotted in the general direction of the building. "Max, what's the plan?" Gazzy asked, trotting alongside his fellow blond haired mutant. Max looked at him.

"We'll get in through one of the ceiling grates," she said. "Iggy, please tell me you have a bomb small enough to put in a pipe?"

The blind boy nodded, pulling a sphere shaped bomb from out of nowhere and holding it in his hand. He had developed echolation, so with each step he could "see" where he was going. Max nodded, "Good," she said, "let's fly up and when I give you the signal, Igs, drop the bomb."

The blind boy nodded. The Flock opened their wings, flapped them twice in unison, and soared upwards, Fang spotting the grate first, and he flew over and, guiding Iggy, let the blind boy unlatch it. They all flew in, feet first, one by one.

Nudge metalbent the grate so it was wider, allowing Iggy and Fang to be able to walk through upright. Tucking their wings in slightly, Nudge went first, Angel second, Iggy third, Max and Fang fourth and fifth, and Gazzy brought up the rear. They stayed this way for a while, walking aimlessly to directions that Angel gave them until Nudge looked down and spotted rainbow colored wings.

"Guys," Nudge said, "I think I found something." Using her mind she metalbent the screws and levitated the grate away for later use, leaning it against the wall, and placing the pieces quietly so they made no sound. Then with help from the telepathic 6 year old she lowered herself down and didn't hit the ground, but instead flew down and widened the grate hole so the others could fly down as well.

The other Flock members flew down rapidly and Max and Iggy were the only ones who landed. "Alright, guys," she whispered. Her raptor vision caught the silhouette of a camera. "Nudge, destroy that."

Nudge stared hard at the camera and slowly, she began to destroy it. The pieces she levitated to the ground. Once that was done she turned to Max, "So, what do we do now? And how do we find Ella?" she asked.

"You're looking for Ella?" A voice said in surprise. The flock turned to see a girl with wavy red hair and turquoise eyes, as well as fair skin. Her wings were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Her wings were thirteen feet across, 3 feet tall. She was 5'3, the same age as Nudge and Ella, and dressed in a turquoise hospital gown.

"Who are you?" Fang asked, landing and tucking his wings in slightly.

"Rainbow," she whispered, and her turquoise eyes seemed to glow. "Ella's right there," she said, pointing to the cage next to her.

There was a weakened Ella on the floor, half-asleep, too weak to pick up a complete thought but only a partial one. Those thoughts consisted of _El… she can read minds… how lon… I'm going to murder th… do to them what they did to us… use metalben…_

Ella opened her eyes, sitting up slowly and locking eyes with Max, "Max," she whispered, "I thought I would never see you again."

"'Course you would, sis. Let's get you out of there. You too, Rainbow. Nudge!"

Knowing what to do, Nudge bent the bars of both cages from the middle, breaking the middle before bending it up and down. When it was done and there was a slight incline on both cages, allowing them to slide out, they did, and Ella fell into Max's arms while Rainbow introduced herself to Nudge and Angel a few meters away.

Ella leaned into Max's chest and her sister stroked her hair, wrapping her wings around her. Iggy joined the hug.

"Nudge," Max said once they broke the hug. Nudge nodded and metalbent the rest of the cages. The experiments crawled out, and went through the main door. Max turned to the others, "Let's go," she said, and they nodded.

One by one, Ella and Rainbow supporting each other, they got back up into the grate. They made it to the roof and were about to take off when erasers appeared out of nowhere.

The Flock backed up on one another until they hit each other's backs. "Now, Iggy," Max whispered, and the blind boy tossed the bomb out at the nearest Eraser.

"Go, we have to take off!" he said. The Flock nodded and ran to the edge of the roof, where the bar wasn't present, and taking off two at a time. Rainbow and Iggy, supporting Ella, ran forward, half carrying her and half running, and took off at the same time, flapping their wings madly.

What they didn't know, and what Iggy did, is that the Erasers were standing on an electrical grate. And once the bomb went of-

_Boom!_

Iggy, Rainbow, and Ella were tossed back with startled yells, being the closest to the shockwave. They spread their wings and flapped.

The Erasers on the roof were electrocuted and fell to the ground, all of them twitching. The Flock looked back at the destruction and looked at Max, awaiting an order. The blond cleared her throat and looked at all of them, "Yo, let's head to Lake Mead. Hop to it."

With that order, the Flock headed east, unaware that someone was following them…


	5. Chapter 5: Birds

Two hours later, Lake Mead came in view, along with their cave. Rainbow and Iggy, who were holding Ella's limp body between them- the newest mutant had tried to stay awake, but failed- went first inside the cave, landing on their feet. They layed Ella down on a sleeping bag; Max had made Fang get extra sleeping bags just in case they brought anyone extra along. And they have. Rainbow moved to the other end of the cave, next to Ella's head, and she and Max, who was fourth to swoop in, lowering the tired girl onto a black sleeping bag.

Rainbow looked at Max's wings.

She could tell what bird the blond girl had been merged with, because of her 15 foot wings. Her primary feathers were dull dark brown, and her secondary feathers were white: a Bald Eagle. Rainbow looked at all the others.

Fang's 16 foot wings were a deep onyx black, both his primary and secondary feathers, which got blue and purple tints in the sunlight, confirmed what Rainbow had been thinking; he was merged with a Black Eagle.

Iggy's 16 foot wings were a very light grey, both his primary and secondary feathers. He was merged with a Grey Eagle.

Nudge's 14 foot wings, both her secondary and primary feathers, were tawny brown; she was merged with a Tawny Eagle.

Ella's 13 foot wings were mostly medium grey, with a band of white across her secondary feathers and her secondary feathers tipped black; and she was merged with a Grey Hawk.

Gazzy's 12 foot wings were gold, so he was merged with a Golden Eagle.

Angel's 10 foot wings, both her secondary and primary feathers, were pure white. She was merged with a White Eagle.

Rainbow sighed, looking at her new family. She was glad they had taken her in, but what were they supposed to do, where were they supposed to go now?

As if reading her mind, Max looked at Rainbow. "Don't worry," Max said, "I'll figure out something."

Ella sat up suddenly, blinking and looking in the direction of the mouth of the cave. Max and rainbow looked at her in surprise. "Someone's coming," she and Angel said at the same time, and then they looked at each other, confused until they realized that they could both read minds.

"He's a boy, about 14 years old. He's a mutant, too," Angel said.

"He has a fake leg and he's not harmful. Or, at least, he doesn't wish to hurt us," Ella confirmed. Max walked up to the mouth of the cave, the heel of her boots clacking gently on the stone floor, and looked up. There was the faint outline of a boy she did not know.

"He's not an Eraser," Angel said.

"Iggy, you're with me. Let's go." Max called, and the strawberry blond joined her. The two jumped and took off from the mouth of the cave, Max's brown and white wings flapping in sync with Iggy's pale grey ones. Iggy gripped the belt loop on Max's jeans loosely; it was what he always did.

The intruder stopped in the sky, hovering over Lake Mead. Max flew up to him, looking at him.

The guy was well over 6 feet tall, about 6'2, like Iggy and Fang's height. He had pale skin, the color of Iggy's, and he had rusty auburn hair and the most stunning emerald green eyes Max had ever seen. He was wearing a hospital shirt and pants, both turquoise, and was barefooted. He had a prostetic leg that started just below his knee, and it was a black metal rod with a fake foot at the end.

Rainbow looked outside. His wings were slightly taller then the others', being 4 feet up to down and 16 feet across. His feathers were different on the outside of his wings then the inside was. The outside of his wings were a deep brown color, like dark chocolate. The inside of his wings were cream colored.

She- he was dead. Was he really-?

Rainbow ran to the edge of the cave and jumped, snapping her wings out and downstroking, then upstroking, then downstroking again. Within a minute she reached them and hovered in mid air, not believing it.

"Rainbow," the stranger said simply, and Rainbow flew into his arms. He chuckled and hugged her back.

"You two know each other?" Max questioned. The boy nodded.

"I thought you were dead," Rainbow sniffled, "you had to take that liquid and they said that it was a death syrup, and then the lightning storm came and shocked you through the wires that they were using to moniter you and-"

The boy shook his head and interrupted her, "No, I wasn't dead. They thought I was… I was in a coma, but my heart was racing too fast for the machines to actually recognize it as a heartbeat. That's why it flatlined. Some whitecoat put me in a body bag, leaving the top zipper open for a bit, that's how I was able to survive and breath. What happened today, with the explosion… it woke me up. I unzipped the bag and was able to escape, following you guys." He looked at Max with his emerald green eyes. "They were talking about your flock. You're-"

"Maximum Ride," Max responded, her brown eyes narrowed against the glare of the sun. She was looking at the stranger with a new amount of respect, "This is Iggy," she said, gesturing to the blind mutant slightly below her. He nodded in greeting, before realizing that he couldn't see him and said, "Hi."

"You're going to love the Flock," Rainbow said, now an arms length away from the boy. "They're awesome!" She turned tail and flew towards the cave, gliding instead of flying. The three watched her go, and then turned back to each other.

However, they didn't notice Ella at the mouth of the cave. The girl's long black hair was moving over her left shoulder, and her 13 foot medium grey wings were spread out and her feathers were being moved by the wind. The girl took a deep breath, scuttled back, and ran off the lip of the cave, jumping out.

Her wings were out and sticking out straight from her back, and she was startled as to how fast she fell. The wind rushed past her, and she flapped her wings, once, twice, and then several times; and before she knew it, she was flying, just like she'd seen the Flock do, and a rift was forming on the surface of the lake because of it. She neglected to glide and instead flapped once and then twice, gaining altitude with each flap, and rised up to the three.

"You're merged with a Bald Eagle, Max, and you're merged with a Grey Eagle, Iggy," he said, and Max raised an eyebrow, "and I'm merged with a-"

"Phillipine Eagle," Ella said, startling the three of them and making them jerk.

"Ella, you shouldn't be out of the cave. You can't even…" Iggy trailed off as he heard wingbeats, and realized that Ella was flying alongside them.

Ella smiled and nodded, "Yes, yes I am. What do you say we head back?"

Max nodded and angled her body so that she was flying in the direction of the cave. The boy followed her, flying a little behind her, and then Ella and Iggy, their hawk like wings brushing against each other with each downstroke.

Max focused her brown eyes on the stranger's emerald green ones. "What's your name?" she asked him.

The stranger looked over at her, his rusty auburn hair blowing in his eyes. He brushed it away with one pale hand, and Max noticed that he was freckled around his nose, like Rainbow had. He answered her, "My name is Perception."


	6. Chapter 6: Feelings

If you asked a normal person what they saw if they looked up and saw birds, they would say birds. This flock, flying in a v formation, was not birds however; they were the mutants known as _the_ Flock, 98% human, 2% bird. There was nine of them, and they all had 2% bird DNA.

Max was the curve of the V, of course. To her right were her boys; Fang was first, Iggy was second, Perception was third (they had decided to call him Percy for short), and Gazzy was last. On Max's right were her girls: Ella was first (she had gotten the hang of flying after 21 minutes), Nudge was second, Rainbow was third, and Angel was last.

They were a Flock of nine, made up of four boys and five girls. They were on the run and may never have a home again, but they had each other, and that was all that mattered. The School still existed- they'd have to take that down and any other place there might be, like the Institute…

"Max!" Nudge said. The blond glanced over at her as the African American girl kept speaking, "where are we going? Are we going to eat? 'Cause I'm hungry, and we had the last of our food in the cave two hours, thirty six minutes, and 29 seconds before we left the cave. Ooh, are we going to our house? Or are we going someplace else? Why are we flying northeast? Are we gonna fly through clouds? What are we-" Nudge was effectively silenced by the death stare Max gave her. The tawny winged mutant chuckled awkwardly, "Hehe. Sorry."

"'s ok, Nudge," Percy and Max said. Max looked at him and Percy shrugged his shoulders, lifting his arms, and then he ran a hand through his reddish brown hair. He offered an easy smile at her, a smile that Rainbow had missed greatly. Max and Nudge smiled back.

Fang glanced over at his one and only love. Then he sneaked a glance at Percy, who was looking at Max with pride, respect, and…love?

Fang looked forward again. He was gonna have a talk with Percy later, and show him who had Max.

"To answer your question, Nudge," Max said, speaking up, "we're going back to Arizona, yes, to our house. And then we're headed to New York."

"Yes!" Iggy said, fist pumping, his sightless blue eyes closed. The others looked at him, slightly confused. "I'll get to build the bombs that will blow up the School and other places we don't like. Ready Gazzy?"

The younger eagerly nodded and Gazzy said, "We _so_ have to add this to the list of extreme sports!"

Percy smiled and looked ahead of them. Iggy was like a big kid… well, technically, he was a kid, but he knew how to build bombs and hide them successfully. He could cook really well, play with fire, unlock locks like a pro… he was truly unique, especially because he was a mutant and was blind…

Rainbow was right… he did like them. He wanted them to be his friends.

Iggy frowned and started hovering in mid air. The other Flock members stopped and looked at Iggy, frowning. "What is it, Iggy?" Rainbow asked.

"Plane. Plane, it's too close!" he said. Max turned to the Flock, her hair whipping into her face.

"Go long!" she said, which were her terms for "go down". The Flock nodded and descended, tucking their wings in and divebombing. But Ella was too slow.

Ella shrieked as the Secret Service plane flew towards her and braced herself, prepared to slam into hard metal-

But she gasped as her body passed right through the plane, which was moving at a solid 130 miles an hour. A second later, she was on the other side, and she looked down, feeling the shocked emotions of the Flock. She flew down to her flock, who were about 500 feet down.

"What just happened?" Iggy asked as Ella flew to Iggy.

"I… I don't know," Ella responded.

"It seems like you phased through the plane," Percy said, making everyone look at him. He had a thoughtful look in his emerald green eyes, and a hand to his chin. "Your molecules became almost nonexistent-"

"-resulting in her phasing through the plane and because she was like a ghost, she couldn't be affected by it at all! Cool!" Iggy said, his voice taking on an excited tone at the end. Percy looked at him.

"I'm smiling, Iggy. And yeah, that's the complete theory in science," Percy said. Iggy smiled himself, and so did the rest of the flock.

Max grinned. "Alright, Flock. Ella's got a new power. When we get to our house, let's review our power."

"Got it!" The Flock repeated, and took off flying for Arizona.

* * *

><p>After they cleaned up the various messes in the house, the Flock milled around the house, doing different things in different locations. Ella, Rainbow, and Perception changed their clothes.<p>

Ella came out of her room wearing a red track jacket. Under her jacket was a black t-shirt with white print on it in the shape of a heart, which was made up of words, a ruby pendent around her necklace, black skinny jeans, and black leather combat boots with buckles on the sides.

Rainbow followed her, wearing a bright blue track jacket that was Dr. Martinez's. Under her jacket was a rainbow striped t-shirt, white skinny jeans, and rainbow colored hi top sneakers.

Percy came out of Iggy's room. He had to admit, for a blind guy, he had an awesome closet. He was wearing a dark green track jacket, a tan dress shirt, a white short sleeve t-shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans that hid his fake leg, and construction boots that were tan in color. He walked halfway down the hallway towards where the rest of the flock was, but was stopped by an almost silent Fang.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Fang asked, his upper arm length jet black hair swishing behind him as he walked.

"Sure, but what's this about?" Percy asked as they walked into Fang's room. The naturally dark boy shut the door behind them and turned to face Percy, who was the same height as he. Fang sighed, his black feathered wings slightly open and surrounding him.

"Stop trying to get my girlfriend, Percy. It won't work," Fang said. To his surprise, the other mutant laughed.

"What are you laughing about? It's not funny!" Fang said, curling his hands into fists.

Percy looked at him, green against black. He shook his head. "I don't want Max as a girlfriend, Fang, I want her as a friend. I admire Maximum Ride."

Fang blinked. Then he lowered his hands. "Oh. Oh. I-I just thought…"

Still laughing, Percy walked out. "No hard feelings, man," he said, and went downstairs.

Fang, although utterly dumbfounded, allowed himself a smile and followed Percy.


	7. Chapter 7: News

Max was downstairs in the living room with the rest of her Flock. She was glad they were all safe, although they had taken Dr. Martinez- Max added it to the list of things they needed to do, find her. Everyone was spread out. Angel was sitting on her lap, and Max was stroking the girl's hair.

There was a comfortable silence around them. Rainbow was with Percy and he was carefully preening the younger girl's rainbow feathers. Rainbow was relaxed. Al around, Max's flock was spending time with one another.

The had had dinner and were now having some sugar butter cookies. Afterwords, they went to sleep.

First thing in the morning they had breakfast, cereal, as they watched the news. "Authorities are currently invading a 'School'-" A female reporter said.

"Turn it up, Nudge," Max said. With a flick of her fingers, Nudge turned up the volume on the TV so that it was 50. Everyone's eyes were glued to the TV.

"This School houses mutants, who were never or used to be regular kids. Scientists have done cruel experiments on them, merging their human DNA with animal DNA. They are recombient life-forms. One of the most famous examples of these life-forms is the Flock, namely the bird kids known as Maximum Ride, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel, and most recently, Ella Martinez, Rainbow, and Perception, also called Percy." Their pictures were shown on screen, with them flying as a group, from Lake Mead in that V formation. Max's brown eyes narrowed.

"How did-" Ella began.

"Maybe it must have been when we were flying over Arizona, on our way here!" Nudge figured. "We weren't at our usual cruising altitude then…"

"We were 1,000 feet up," Percy said, nodding his head, "so anyone could've seen us. That was when we were losing altitude."

"Someone must've snapped a photo," Max said, frowning. "Next time, we should stay under the radar, and be more careful." The Flock nodded.

"- so where are they now? In Phoniex, Arizona! Mark Mason is standing outside the house as we speak. Mark?"

Everyone's jaws dropped. "They didn't," Fang said.

"They just did," Iggy said, hearing the reporter. They continued to watch.

"-and they've been inside, probably resting, for the night-"

"Maybe a chopper followed us," Gazzy suggested.

"Probably," Fang agreed.

"He wants to meet us," Angel said. "it's his own curiousity that's fueling what he's saying, not any script."

They then heard a knock on the door. "Max," Rainbow whispered, "what should we do?"

"I'll go to the door," she said, "you stay here. And tuck your wings in. Act _normal._ Like, y'know, we didn't just fly a marathon. He'll have his interview." The blond got up and walked to the door, her boots going _tap, tap, tap_ against the wooden floor with each step she took. Max was nearly to the door when the reporter knocked again and Max looked through the keyhole.

Just as the reporter was about to knock again, Max opened the door with a smile on her face. "Hi!" she said, "I heard that you wanted to interview us. I'm Maximum Ride, leader of the Flock." The blond mutant stuck her hand out and after a second, Mark shook her hand. "Come inside," Max said, turning and walking down the short entryway. The reporter and his cameraman followed her inside.

"So you're the leader of the Flock?" Mark asked.

"Yes I am," Max said, leading them to the living room. The Flock was there, on various couches and chairs. The reporter quickly did a head count: Maximum, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Ella, Rainbow, Gazzy, and Angel. _Girls? _Max thought, _control them both._

_You got it, Max, _Angel thought. The two girls came to Max's side and beamed up at Mark. "Hi, I'm Angel," she said, brainwashing the reporter and his accomplice. She and Ella had figured out the government wanted to eliminate mutantkind: they weren't going to let them.

* * *

><p>The interview had gone well. Mark had gotten what he wanted, and they left. Max breathed a sigh of relief from behind the closed door, never thinking that they'd leave. She looked at her Flock.<p>

"I think I know exactly where they took Mom. Let's go to New York."

"What's our first stop, Max?" Rainbow asked.

"New Mexico," Max answered, "we rest up. I think I know a good hotel in Albuquerque. Or, Rio Rancho. I'm not exactly sure. But, pack your bags, Flock. We're going to New Mexico. And yes, we're staying in hotels."

They rushed around, making up a buddy system and packing their bags. Then they flew out the attic window, locking up tight.

* * *

><p>"There it is!" Nudge explained. "Wow, it's so pretty! But it's almost all desert. Did you know it was almost all desert? I didn't know that it was almost all desert. Where's the hotel we're staying a-"<p>

She was silenced by a look by Percy. "Never mind."

"Okay, Flock, do you know the other reason why were in the Land Of Enchantment?" Max asked, looking at them out of the corner of her eye. They shook their heads, but Ella spoke up.

"You were thinking that White Sands might be hiding something," Ella said, her positioning much like her sister's-one leg arched backwards as if she was running, her other leg straight, her 13 wings spread out, and her arms spread slightly. Her hair was streaming back, just like everyone else's.

"There!" Max said, spotting the hotel, a Day's Inn.(1) It was on Crestview Drive Southeast, in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. They landed behind the semi-square, tan and orange hotel, and walked around to the big square to check in, covering their wings first.

The Flock walked in, Fang, Max, Iggy and Perception holding the Flock's duffel bags. Max would be rooming with Angel. Fang would be rooming with Nudge; they had already proved they were a spectacular team. Iggy would be rooming with Ella and Gazzy, and Percy with Rainbow. The man behind the counter looked up. "Hi, how may I help you today?"

"We are looking for 4 rooms, and hopefully they can be connected," Max said, the blond running a hand through her hair. She smiled at him and he smiled back, then the man tilted his head and recognized them.

"You're the Flock, aren't you?" he asked, "The bird kids?"

"The nine and only," Percy said, smiling. The man's grin grew wider; they were the only ones there.

"Can-can I-"

"Sure," Ella said, and extended her wings. The man's grin grew even wider.

"That is _awesome. _Okay, so, 4 rooms, double beds, or maybe a 3rd?" He asked, holding the keys in his hand and coming out from behind the counter.

"Yeah, that'll be good," Max said, and they followed him outside. He led them to the second level, his suit jacket flapping, and handed Max the key he was carrying. Then he handed the keys to the other teens, who handed them out to their roommates. "If you ever lose the key while flying or something, come to the front desk and I'll get you up with a new one. And I'll let you stay free."

"Thanks for that," Max said.

"No problem."


	8. Chapter 8: Seen

Maximum blinked awake. She shook her head and sat up slowly, looking around. Her blond hair was completely behind her, as if she had been flying. It was in its usually tangled mess of curls. Her wings were out instead of tucked in, and Max turned her brown eyes on Angel, who was asleep next to her.

Her fellow mutant's blond hair was like Max's. Her pure white wings were out, like Max's. The child's bright blue eyes slowly opened. "Hi Max," she said in a sweet voice.

"Hey, Angel," Max replied, and Angel scooted closer to Max. The 14 year old hugged the 6 year old, and kissed the top of her head. "I'm gonna call the others, 'kay? Go take a shower."

"Okay, Max," Angel said. She scooted out of the bed they had been sharing (the other was for their stuff) and walked to the shower, her nightgown swishing.

Max smiled and wiggled her wings, adjusting her tank top before she called Fang's room. It was Nudge who picked up.

"Hello?" Nudge mumbled. Her voice was filled with sleep.

"Hey Nudge," Max said, yawning, "we just got up. Angel's taking a shower. What are you and Fang up to?"

"Well, we spent a good portion of the night playing Monopoly, so there's a Monopoly board on the desk," Nudge said. "So what are we gonna do today?"

"Today we're going to hit an IHOP, avoid the media, fly away from the media if needed be, and head to the military base in White Sands. It's a fly-by. Tell the others, I'm about to take a shower. Oh, and meet us in the main lobby." Max said.

"Got it! See you later!"

Max hung up and Angel walked out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her body. Max walked to the bathroom, her bare feet slapping gently against the faux wooden floor. She closed the door.

Max soon finished her shower and walked out, a towel wrapped around her body.

Angel was already dressed, wearing a short long sleeved above the knee dress that had a cinched waist. Around Angel's waist was a pink ribbon, and her dress was white in color, the skirt pleated. She also had on white leather boots that went up to her knees and were a bit like Max's. Her wings were out.

"Angel, wait in the lobby for me, ok?" She asked.

"Sure," Angel said. Max kissed her on the forehead and handed her a key, and Angel walked out.

Angel went to the lobby of the Day's Inn and entered. There were a lot of people around, and on impulse she tucked her wings in, yet against her dress, and sat in a chair close to Jason's desk. Angel ran her hand through her straight blond hair and adjusted the pink bow that was in her hair.

Slowly, one woman's thoughts turned to her, the 6 year old sitting in the chair. Angel sensed this and turned her head slowly.

"Hello," Angel said, making the woman jump.

"Hi there. You started me," she said.

"I'm sorry," Angel apologized. The woman walked over to her. She had dark curly hair that reached her shoulders and dark blue eyes.

"That's okay, sweetie," she said. "What's your name?"

"Angel," she responded, smiling. The woman smiled as well. She had a lab coat on, and she had glasses.

"Okay, Angel. I'm Wendy Ivans, and I'm a doctor. I'm also a part of the CSM, and one of the founders told me to go to New Mexico and make sure you and the rest of the Flock were okay."

"Thank you for that," Angel said, and she sensed Max's aura. "Max, over here!" She called.

Max was wearing her brown belly track jacket, a white t-shirt, a brown t-shirt under that, faded blue denim jeans, and her signature light brown combat boots. Her wings were tucked around her a bit. Jason had made it clear; mutants were welcome.

Some of the visitors noticed and stared, but Max didn't care. She was going straight towards Angel, who was tucked in a chair, and a woman was beside her.

"Hey Angel," Max said.

"Hi Max!" Angel said brightly. "This is Doctor Wendy Ivan. She's a doctor and part of the CSM! One of the founders sent her to check up on us and make sure we were safe," Angel said.

"Ah. Thanks for that," Max said, shaking Doctor Ivan's hand. She sat on the arm of Angel's chair and leaned back.

For the next while they talked. Talked about their mission, about mutant rights, about everything and anything. Soon the rest of the Flock arrived and sat down in the sitting area in various places.

Iggy listened. The people around him were talking about the Flock, him included. They were wondering what powers they had-were they powerful? Immortal? All knowing?- and some were wanting to exploit that power for themselves. Ella and Angel could sense his nervousness.

_Hey, easy, _Ella soothed him.

"Max," Rainbow said, "what do we do now?" She was wearing a white knit cardigan, a light blue dress, and white Converse sneakers with rainbow laces.

"Let's get breakfast," Max said, "then we head out."

"May I journey with you?" Ivans asked, standing up as well, "I can pay for the food and get a meal myself."

"Sure. We'll fly though," Max said. The Flock, along with Ivans, went outside, and Ivans got into her car, a lowrider. "Flock, fly slow, this can be a pleasure cruise."

The Flock went to the top of the Days Inn while the people who were in the lobby watched. They pointed and took pictures. Max simply sighed; she honestly never thought that this would be happening, and yet, here it was, happening. She never thought mutantkind would be revealed.

Yet, here it was happening.

Max sighed, scuttling backwards, and making the Flock form a semi circle around her. She then ran forward, threw herself off the top of the building, snapped her wings open…

…and began to fly. The rest of the Flock followed her.

The mission had begun.


End file.
